Three Days
by DarkRedWillow
Summary: It has only been three days. It has already been three days. Post 6x23. Light spoilers.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: It has been ages since I have published anything, and I suck for it. Sorry. I know I have quite a few unfinished stories and, if I can't promised when they will be done, they will. Be. Finished. Just, please bare with me. In the meantime, I want to say thank you to all who still read and PM me, and review the stories. Thank you, thank you, thank you! _

_I am still not sure what to think of the season 6 finale...I expected a twist but, even as a writer, I did not see THAT ending coming. There is cruel, and cruel..._

_I don't if this is going to be a oneshot, or more. I have labelled it as 'complete' for now. This hasn't been edited, and English is my second language so every typo is mine, and accidental. _

* * *

She is still sitting on the same spot Martha left her when she had to take a call, twenty minutes ago.

Slumped in the large, cream lover seat, hands clasped tightly on her lap, head down, Kate is still. Too still. For a moment Martha's heart leaps in her throat, briefly worrying if her daughter-in-law is even breathing anymore, until she catches the slight shivering of her frail shoulders.

She has been shaking ever since they had to drag her away from the crash scene.

She has stopped talking to anyone after they had tried to console her one too many times, and yelled at them to leave her alone until her voice broke.

She has stopped even trying to leave her bedroom after Gates forbade her to come into the precinct, that she was putting her on medical leave for the time being.

She has stopped making eye contact with anyone after Esposito and Ryan had to pick her up at the Hamptons police station for attempting to take point on the investigation. Again.

She either lies in bed, or sits in the chair.

For the first time in her life, all fight has left Kate Beckett.

Her hair are limp on her head, the elegant curls now flat and oily from too many people running their hands in them in a vain comforting gesture. Her wedding gown has long been replaced with one of Castle's maroon shirts.

Her delicate features barren of all makeup makes her seem barely out of her teenage years. The sharpness of her cheekbones and hollowness of her cheeks reminds Jim of Johanna's mother, weeks before she passed.

The hauntedness of her eyes almost makes everyone grateful she refuses to establish eye contact with them.

Martha's heart breaks all over again at how small she looks in that shirt. Lost. She somewhat perks up when she notices Kate's bare legs, knowing she had been wearing leggings when she had left her. To the older woman, the abandoned pants she finds on the bathroom floor isn't yet another sign of her daughter-in-law's near catatonic grief. It was a success, if a small one, that Kate had it in herself to get up on her own, even if it was just to use the bathroom.

Baby steps.

As Martha approached slowly, a glass of milk in one hand, and a small plate of fruit salad in the other, the older woman found herself craving a soothing, chilled glass of red wine, but she immediately dismissed the idea. Upon bringing Kate back home with them, Alexis had emptied the loft from any remaining alcohol.

As much as she craved her daily glass, eh, bottle of wine, Martha couldn't deny Jim Beckett's anxious request.

They had all seen the way Kate had fixed that bottle of scotch when they had first got back from the Hamptons.

Martha carefully places the fruit plate and the glass on the small table nearby and sits besides Kate before softly rubbing a soothing hand down Kate's arm to let her know she was back.

If Kate accepted her father's safe embrace and tolerated everyone else's touch, the only person's attention and touch she craved was Martha's, at the woman's biggest surprise. It had never truly dawned on the actress just how much her son's fiancé loved and looked up to her, until they had gotten back from the Hamptons' police station and no one, even Jim, could get Kate to listen to them.

It was only when Martha grabbed her hand and cupped her face, forcing eye contact with her that Kate had stopped. Stopped struggling, stopped shouting…stopped everything.

All adrenaline temporarily gone from her, she had let herself be guided by Martha into the main bathroom where, with Lanie's help, they painfully peeled her mother's wedding gown from her body. She had obediently sat on the edge of the tub while Martha undid her hair, and gently cleaned her face from all trace of makeup.

Neither she nor Alexis had realized just how badly she loved Rick until she was forced to stand on her own.

Martha is pulled from her thoughts as Kate's shaking frame leans into hers. She feels herself tearing up as she glances down at Kate's hands, and at how desperately the younger woman is clutching at her wedding band.

Wordlessly Martha wraps an arm around Kate's waist and brings her closer, engulfing her in a strong, motherly hug.

Martha says nothing when, a moment later, a pair of slim arms sneaks their way around her back. Or when tears dampens her neck and shirt. She only tightens her hold on her daughter-in-law as she finally lets herself go and silent sobs wracks her whole body for the first time in three days.

It has only been three days.

It has already been three days. 

* * *

_Thank you for reading. Thoughts?_


	2. Chapter 2

I wasn't exactly planning to add more to this, but...yeah. There should be one last chapter, who should be uploaded hopefully soon. Thanks for the reviews and comments, and for taking the time to read. On a sidenote, all rated M stories have been deleted for personal reasons. Thanks for understanding.

* * *

One of New York City's most popular catch phrase is that it is a city 'that never sleeps'. Especially at 7:30, on a Wednesday night.

As Martha silently shuts the door to her son's room, one last peek inside confirms the exception to the rule. Leaving it opened by an inch, just in case, the slumbering forms of Kate and Alexis are barely noticeable under the thick layers of blankets on the bed.

The loft is eerily still and quiet as Martha traipses through the living room and into the kitchen, her bare feet slow and uncertain as she finally reaches the bar, where she gracefully slumps on a stool.

In front of her is the same glass of iced tea she had poured Alexis earlier. The girl had all but wet her lips into the cool beverage before retreating back into herself once more.

Exhausted but unwilling to be alone in her own bedroom, the younger redhead had eventually headed for her father's bedroom and, after having hesitantly glanced at Kate, who was passed out on her father's side, she had crawled onto Kate's side, careful not to wake her, and closed her eyes.

She was asleep in seconds.

Pushing the glass of iced tea to the side, Martha releases a slow sigh and checks her watch, acknowledges with satisfaction that her granddaughter had been sleeping for the past two hours and her daughter-in-law, almost four now.

She should get some rest too. Before either of them wakes up crying or screaming, or before she passes out from sheer exhaustion face first on the fruit bowl.

She has to get some rest. She _wants_ to, but she can't. Not until she knows.

Glancing sideways, Martha takes in the row of cell phones neatly aligned one next to another. Hers, the silver one; Kate's pristine white phone and Alexis' pink one. All there, all face up, the batteries fully charged.

If anyone were to receive any news, they all want to know at once. No secrets.

Martha finds herself staring at Kate's phone longer, debating. Just one phone call...

She has to know.

She has to know if it really was her son in that car.

She has to know, but no one is telling them anything. Lanie and the boys call every few hours, but never with the news Martha wants to hear.

Or the news she really wouldn't bear to hear.

She doesn't understand why it is taking so long for the DNA results to come back. Her son was, is...was, after all, somewhat of a famous public figure, and as the fiancé of a highly esteemed NYPD detective, you would think they would have the test done at the earliest convenience.

When they'd know...phone calls would have to be made. Arrangements. She would have to sit Kate and Alexis down in the morning, and approach the matter with them.

She would have to fish her son's testament from his safe, but only Kate knew the new password. The one she knew didn't work anymore.

It could wait tomorrow though. Maybe that, by then, they would find something, anything to give them genuine hope.

Plucking the glass of iced tea off the bar Martha takes a large gulp, wishing it was her favorite wine instead.

Taking in the rest of the glass, she wondered about taking one of the sleeping pills Lanie had brought them. So far only two were missing from the bottle. Alexis took one the night before, and Martha had crushed the other in the soup she forced Kate to eat earlier. As shameful as Martha was about it, at least now her daughter-in-law was resting, for the first time in three days.

Lost in her thoughts, Martha doesn't hear the hesitant shuffling behind her, and startles badly when a warm hand brushes her back.

Kate flinches even as she takes her hand back and, glancing at the phones, reluctantly checking hers. Her whole body seems to bow over and deflate as a blank screen greets her. "I'm sorry Martha, I didn't mean to scare you. I'm so sorry."

"Nonsense dear. Just, don't be so quiet, alright? Or I'm going to have to get you one of those little bells so we can hear you coming and going around here." Martha teases her, oddly pleased when she is rewarded with a choked laugh from Kate.

"Rick joked about the same thing more than once. It was driving him crazy, me continuously sneaking up on him." Kate admits with a wry smile as she takes a seat next to her mother-in-law.

The name lingers in the room, long after their voices has faded, both women sinking and losing themselves in their own memories of him.

"Alexis is asleep in our room." Kate whispers after a while. Her voice holds a hint of curiosity and confusion that makes the older woman smile, albeit briefly. "She was dead on her feet but she couldn't sleep. I thought maybe if she were in her father's room, it'd be easier for her to get some rest."

Kate's bloodshot gaze wavers from the counter as she nods slowly, taking in the information. "I'm so sorry, Martha. I didn't...I haven't been myself, I wasn't there for you, or for Alexis. Is there anything I can do? How are you holding up? Would you like to go and lie down with Alexis? You should, you should lie down with her. You look exhausted, and Alexis is going to freak out if she wakes up and no one's there, and-"

Martha can tell the sleeping pill she gave her daughter-in-law earlier still courses through her veins when their eyes met for the first time that day. The detective's naturally bright and impish sienna eyes are glassy and slightly unfocused as they settle on the older woman, and yet they shine with a lucidity that marvels her. "I might pop one of your sleeping pills later, but my bedroom is fine, I assure you. Right now I'd kill for a drink though."

The words leave Martha's mouth before she even realizes she is even speaking them and, when Kate stares at her blankly, she is concerned the mention of alcohol has managed to upset Kate.

"I don't have sleeping pills. Never had them." Martha almost smiles at the look of utter confusion on the younger woman's face, and how quick it changes to frustration when she is clearly incapable of figuring out what Martha is talking about. "Martha, I-"

The pout that washes over Kate's face as she finally pieces it together both surprise and relieves Martha. "That explains why I feel like shit. Even my father never managed, how'd you do it?"

"A mother never reveals her secrets, darling."

The ghost of a smile brushes Kate's lips as she quirks an eyebrow at her mother-in-law. Wordlessly, Kate slides off her stool and slowly tiptoes into the kitchen.

Martha watches as Kate turns on herself and, not too steady on her legs, begins inspecting the cupboards before heading for the one on the far left. Getting on her knees, Kate rummages through it clumsily until she finds what she is looking for.

"Castle always kept one of these hidden for the great occasions." Kate tells Martha as she pulls a glass out and brings it to her. She starts to uncork the bottle but Martha takes over after she almost spills it for the second time.

Martha indulges in a warm smile as she welcomes her daughter-in-law back by her side. "He wouldn't keep it in the cellar in case I'd have something to celebrate with, you mean."

Kate's blush answers for her before she even has a chance to formulate words. "You know, every now and then his teasing would get the best of me, resulting in us arguing until one of us, but usually Alexis, called in a truce."

"And by the next morning the reason as to why you guys fought would have found its way to your nightstand?"

"With an apologetic note and a warning about the remaining bottles having been relocated in a new hideout." Martha agrees. "Richard has taught you well, Katherine. He would be proud."

The frown that darkens Kate's features tells otherwise. "He wouldn't want me to be like this. I shouldn't be like this, I should be helping you taking care of Alexis, I should be taking care of you-"

Martha interrupts the sudden ramble by cupping Kate's cheeks. She keeps a gentle hold on her daughter-in-law until their eyes meet. "Now you listen to me, Katherine Beckett. We all take care of each other. You are as allowed as anyone else to grieve and mourn my son. He was your partner, he was about to become your husband-"

"Is. Castle _is _my partner, he _is_ going to be my husband." Martha grabs Kate's wrist just as she is about to stand, and forces her to sit back down. "Kate."

"I don't know what to do, Martha. I- I don't know how to do this again, I don't think I can do this again. I don't want to have to do this again." Kate grieves as she slumps back in her seat and into Martha's arms.

A loud and sudden knock at the door startles them. This time when Kate pulls away Martha lets her, but keeps hold of one of her hand and pulls herself up as well.

Another knock, this one even louder echoes through the loft just as Alexis stumbles out of her father's bedroom, still half asleep. "What's going on?"

As one they move for the door, only to startle again when all three phones on the counter lights up and starts ringing. Alexis runs for the door just as Kate spins on her feet for the phones. Martha stays rooting in place, frozen.

Kate grabs her phone just as Alexis opens the door, revealing Esposito and Ryan in the doorway.

The phone slips from her grasp when she spots Gates and Lanie next to them.

They all move inside as one, Ryan closing the door and lingering behind. Kate's focus shifts on Gates as she moves forward. Towards her.

"We need to talk."


End file.
